Scott in Baltimore wrote:
Vinnie S. wrote:

If you was to save some money, just use the coax itself as the dipole.
Once you
separate the center wire from the braid, that is the star of you
dipole. That
needs to be about 102-104 inches long. The center wire is easy, but
separating
the braid is a pain in the ass. So cut about 1 inched of braid, and
solder a
wire to the braid, like 14 gauge from Home Depot. Remember, the length
should be
cut long, and then cut shorter to match up and get low SWR. Is alwasy
easier to
cut shorter, and to make longer.

I can't stress how important impedence matching is to your antenna system.
I'd rather have a 1.5:1 resonant SWR then 1:1 unresonant SWR. Think about
singing in the shower. There is a pitch that sings back to you with very
little power. That is what happens in a resonant antenna. Recieved signals
also get this natural amplification. Frequency is unimportant to this theory.

http://www.qsl.net/iz7ath/web/02_bre.../pag01_eng.htm
http://www.hamuniverse.com/balun.html
http://www.njqrp.org/balun/